Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Stock Price

Key Points

• Barclays lowered its FirstEnergy price target from $54 to $49 while maintaining an “overweight” rating, implying approximately 8.16% upside from the stock’s $45.30 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with six Buy and six Hold ratings producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average target price of $51.73.
• FirstEnergy matched quarterly earnings expectations at $0.50 per share and exceeded revenue estimates, while institutional investors collectively own 89.41% of the company.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $54.00 to $49.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Barclays's target price would suggest a potential upside of 8.16% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on FE. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, September 14th. Mizuho set a $47.00 price objective on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.73.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock traded up $0.30 on Monday, hitting $45.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,797,351 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,655,625. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.54. FirstEnergy has a 1 year low of $42.67 and a 1 year high of $52.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $45.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.21. The company has a market capitalization of $26.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.43.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 6.86%. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 3.4% in the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 6,839 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 44.4% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 754 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% during the second quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,572 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.5% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 7,776 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 16.7% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

About FirstEnergy

FirstEnergy Corp. is an electric utility holding company focused primarily on regulated electricity transmission and distribution. Through its operating companies, the company delivers electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers and maintains the infrastructure needed to support reliable service.

FirstEnergy's utility subsidiaries include Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison in Ohio; Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power and West Penn Power in Pennsylvania; Jersey Central Power & Light in New Jersey; and Mon Power and Potomac Edison in West Virginia and Maryland.

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